Forklift awareness course

Specially developed by Mentor, 'Safely Working with Lift Trucks' is a high-impact, low-cost training course which promotes a safe working environment by targeting the behaviour at the root of bad practice. 

Two hours in duration, the course is hard-hitting but concise, meaning up to 30 delegates in one day can benefit and at minimal cost to businesses.

The course targets anyone on site whose work involves forklift trucks – be they operators, supervisors or staff working in close proximity. According to HSE figures, pedestrians are just as at risk as operators, if not more so.

Mentor MD Stuart Taylor said: “Sixty per cent of those injured by forklift trucks were ‘on foot’ at the time of impact. Unlike operators, many working alongside forklifts are unaware of the risks they pose and, more importantly, how to reduce them.”

This lack of awareness and a complacent attitude towards safety are at the basis of Mentor’s new course. Whilst acknowledging that many of the duties undertaken by workers on and around forklifts can be highly repetitive, it draws attention to the danger of allowing bad habits and complacency to become sustained bad practice and unsafe behaviour, and reminds delegates of the potentially dire consequences for themselves, their colleagues and their company.